Thursday, 16 April 2015

Talking Pleasantville and Empire with Attica Locke

Attica Locke is the author of three
novels. Her first novel Black Water Rising was shortlisted for
the Orange Prize, nominated for an Edgar Award, a NAACP Image Award and a Strand
Magazine Critics Award. It was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Award. It also introduced readers to lawyer Jay
Porter. Her second novel The Cutting Season won the Ernest Gaines
Award for Literary Excellence was long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize and was
a finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.
Her latest book is Pleasantville
and sees the return of Jay Porter now and environmental lawyer. In this
interview she talks about the new book and being a writer on the hit series Empire!

Ayo:For those who have not yet read Pleasantville – could you give a brief explanation of what it is about?

Attica:In
1996, during a contentious mayoral race in Houston, Texas, a block-walker – the
people who leave fliers for candidates at your doorstep – goes missing in the
tiny hamlet of Pleasantville, in northeast Houston.Jay Porter, who has become an environmental
lawyer, represents the neighbourhood in a lawsuit against a chemical company,
gets sucked into the case when the relative of a prominent Pleasantville family
is accused of having something to do with the crime.Jay eventually defends the man in court, a
case that inadvertently dissects a crooked election.

Ayo: What made you decide to go back to the
character of Jay Porter in what is in essence a sequel to your brilliant debut
novel Black Water Rising?

Attica:In
truth, I resisted writing a “sequel.”I
thought Jay’s story was done.But then
my father ran for mayor of Houston in 2009, and I got to see a part of the
political process that not many get to see up close, and I was fascinated by
the ugliness of politics and devastated at the same time.I knew I wanted to write about an election in
Houston.Still, I was going to write
that book from another character’s point of view.But the more I realized that the book would
be looking in some ways deal with the on-going contradictions around race in
America, post-civil rights movement, the more I realized that Jay was the right
character through which to tell the story.

Ayo:In Pleasantville Jay Porter of course finds
himself back in court.He really didn’t
want to be there as he is dealing with lots of other issues. Was this
deliberate?

Attica:Yes.One of the things that made me wary of writing a “sequel” was the fear
that readers would want an experience identical to Black Water Rising.I wanted it
to be a different book and Jay to be a different man.But I also had to give him real challenges to
overcome.The changes in his personal
life are a part of that.And they mirror
changes in my own life.I wanted Jay to
again have to force himself to stand up and speak for what’s right.

Ayo:There is a lot of history about Pleasantville in Houston.Is there a specific reason why you decided to
write about it?

Attica: I grew up in Houston,
but didn’t know the neighbourhood of Pleasantville until my father ran for
mayor in 2009.I went to a candidate
forum there – in what at the time was a middle class neighbourhood a little
worse for the wear.I didn’t understand
why every candidate was coming to Pleasantville figuratively on their knees
begging for votes.What was so special
about this place?When I learned the
history of the place, then I understood.Pleasantville was founded in 1949 as a planned community for Negro
families of means, one of the first its kind in the United States.Doctors, teachers, engineers, and lawyers
moved in, some able to own their own homes for the first time.The building of the neighbourhood also
created a brand new voting district in the middle of the state.Pleasantville since its inception has had a
rich history of civic engagement.In
fact their precinct has been nicknamed “the might 259th” by
politicians who come courting for their votes every election cycle.There’s a quote that opens the book that
appeared in the Houston Chronicle, “Every
politician worth his salt knows the road to elected office goes through
Pleasantville.”

Ayo:Politics
plays a huge part in this novel, do you have any strong political views and if
so did any of them manage to find their way into your novel?

Attica:I think anyone who reads the book –
or any of my books for that matter – will know my politics swing hard to the
left.Politics are in everything I do,
naturally.I am interested in the
distribution of power, in every way.And
it comes out naturally in what I write.

Ayo:Was there any specific reason you decided
to set it in 1996?

Attica:1996
was right after The Houston Post
folded, and the city became the first major

metropolis in America to have only
one newspaper.I strongly feel that my
father’s election was affected by the fact that there was only one newspaper in
the city.They got to control the
narrative of the election and there was never a counter view.

Ayo:Do you
enjoy writing about your home town Houston and do you think Jay Porter would
make of Houston now?

Attica:I
love writing about Houston.As for how
Jay would feel about the city now, I may have to write a book to find out.

Ayo:You
have been heavily involved in Empire as co-producer and writer.How did this come about and how pleased are
you about the huge success it has been?

Attica:I
was a Hollywood screenwriter for years before I wrote a novel.I was very good at getting paid well to write
movies that never got made.The difficulty
of making movies is part of the reason I started writing books.During that time, I watched as TV has
consistently gotten more and more interesting, and the kind of movies I wanted
to make – grown-up dramas, political thrillers, great character studies – those
stories have all moved to TV.That’s
where some of the most interesting work in Hollywood is right now.I told my agents, “I want to play to.”I went on a lot of meetings and read a lot of
scripts, and Empire was a standout
from the first page of the pilot script.I went to lots of meetings with the executive producers and the studio
and then I got the job.It has been one
of the most fun experiences of my life.

Ayo:What is the best thing for you being a
writer on this show?

Attica:The writers’ room.Everyone makes me laugh.I’ve made friends for life.

Ayo:You
have managed to have several cameos from a number of really well known musical
artists.How have you managed the
challenges when it comes to the music and how have you decided which artists to
have cameos?You have had for example
Mary J Blige and Jennifer Hudson on the show.

Attica:In the beginning, Timbaland and Lee
Daniels called in a lot of favours.No
one knew the show would blow up like it has.So no one was necessarily knocking down our doors. But I think once
people heard the music that was being produced and word got around, artists
were calling us to be on the show.The
music is one of the bigger challenges on the show.It’s all original and the actors have to record
while also shooting the show.It’s to
the credit of Timbaland and Jim Beanz that working under incredible time
constraints they created such incredible music.

Ayo:Timbaland
and Jim Beanz are heavily involved with the music for Empire and the soundtrack for season 1 has just been released. Does
the music encompass all that you think it should and do you have any favourite
tracks.

Attica:I love the music.I listen to it at the gym.I am incredibly impressed with Timbaland and
Jim Beanz’s ability to take a few sentences, snippet of an idea, from the
writers and create music that adds another emotional layer to the
storytelling.They are geniuses, pure
and simple.Favourite songs: Conqueror, Remember the Music, Drip Drop and Keep it Movin’.

Ayo:One of
things about Empire which some people
might miss is the social issues that it also deals with like homophobia and
abuse.Was this intentional?

Attica: That was in the
pilot script and dealt with in a way I had never seen before in the pilot
episode. It’s in the DNA of the
show.Lee Daniels has said that some of
the storyline about young Jamal and his father’s rejection of him is taken from
his own life.

Ayo:Any
hints that you can reveal about season 2 of Empire?

Attica: My lips
are sealed.

Ayo:Aside
from Empire, what are you working on next?

Attica: Being a
mom and a dreaming up my next book.

Pleasantville –

Fifteen years
after the events in Black Water
Rising, Jay Porter is struggling to cope with catastrophic changes in his
personal life and the disintegration for his environmental law practice. His
victory against Cole Oil is still the crown jewel of his career, even if he
hasn’t yet seen a dime, thanks to appeals. But time has taken its toll. Tired
and restless, he’s ready to quit.

When a girl goes
missing on election night, 1996, in the neighbourhood of Pleasantville – a
hamlet for upwardly mobile blacks on the north side of Houston – single father
Jay is deeply disturbed. He’s been representing Pleasantville in the wake of a
chemical fire, and the case is dragging on, raising doubts about his ability.

The missing girl
was a volunteer for one of the local mayoral candidates, and her disappearance
complicates an already heated campaign. When the nephew of a candidate, a
Pleasantville local, is arrested, Jay reluctantly finds himself serving as a
defense attorney. With a man’s life and his own reputation on the line, Jay is
about to try his first murder in a case that will also put the electoral
process on trial, exposing the dark side of power and those determined to keep
it

More information about
Attica Locke and her books can be found on her website.You can also follow her on Twitter @atticalockeand find her on Facebook.